Amateurs: Cup wins for Campsie Minerva and Black Watch

Ian MacLean

But it wasn’t such a good day for Harestanes who were beaten at home in the league.

Here’s our round-up -

Campsie Minerva 2 Shortlees 0

Campsie Minerva disposed of West of Scotland Cup holders Shortlees in a fifth round encounter at Lennoxtown on Saturday.

The visitors from Kilmarnock arrived with two busloads of supporters, confident of taking another step towards retaining their trophy.

But from the very first whistle it was they who were doing all the defending and in four minutes they got a rude awakening.

Graeme Dempsey in the Minerva midfield picked up a loose ball and motored towards the opposing 18-yard-box and after a good bit of passing play between him, McKenna and McCauley the ball fell to Paul Kemmit in the six-yard box and he made no mistake, smashing the ball high past the keeper into the net.

Minerva continued to dominate in the first half but Shortlees would be kept down easily and twice Minerva had McCullum in goal to thank for keeping them ahead.

The dependable keeper was on hand to mop up anything that got past Gow and McGregor in the heart of defence for Campsie, the aforementioned two magnificent for the entire game.

Just before half time Minerva almost went two up; only a good save from the keeper and then the woodwork keeping Losjay Frame who had his best game in a Minerva jersey and Mickey Boyle from adding to Minerva’s tally.

The second half started with the visitors showing just what a good team they are; however anything thrown at them was dealt with well by McGregor and Gow.

The game continued at an unbelievable pace with each team giving no quarter.

The large crowd were treated to a great spectacle from both teams but as Shortlees pushed for the equaliser they were leaving their defence more and more exposed.

However it was only with five minutes remaining that Minerva put the tie to bed, man of the match Graeme Dempsey capping off a wonderful display with a low well fired strike just inside the keeper’s left hand post.

Minerva were well deserving of their two-goal victory, but credit must be given to the visitors who put up a spirited defence of their trophy.

Troon Dundonald 0 Campsie Black Watch/Waterside 5

Campsie Black Watch/Waterside moved into the sixth round of the West of Scotland Cup with a 5-0 win away to Troon Dundonald.

The game started well for Campsie when, in the second minute, a great cross from Sean Reeves found Harty in front of goal.

He unleashed a great shot which was parried back out by keeper Ingram but Steven Aitken made no mistake with the rebound, blasting the ball high into the net to open the scoring.

Aitken had another chance in the sixth minute but headed over.

However two minutes later it was the turn of Kevin Corr to find the net to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.

The third goal came in the 10th minute when good work down the right from Pettigrew found Corr close to the line, but he managed to deliver a great cross into the box to be met by Aitken who tapped in.

To their credit Troon didn’t give up and every time they made a break up the pitch they looked as if they could score.

In the 34th minute Campsie were awarded a free-kick outside the box and Pettigrew stepped up to strike a great shot only to be denied by the post.

Aitken was back to his brilliant best and finished off a great first half for Campsie when he completed his hat-trick after a defensive mistake.

The second half was more of the same as Campsie continued to dominate and they went further ahead in the 56th minute when, from Hardie’s cross, Reeves laid the ball on for Corr to double his tally.

There was further agony for Troon when McCaig was sent off for a second yellow, but there was no further scoring.

Harestanes 1 Cambusnethan Talbot 2

Harestanes suffered what wasn’t one of their best days as they went down 2-1 at home to Cambusnethan Talbot on Saturday.

They started the game well enough, on the front foot with the visitors pinned back in their own half.

Proctor had a good chance to give Harestanes an early lead. He broke through the middle, outran the defender, moved on the isolated keeper but could only shoot wide.

Looking to having a good chance of picking up three points, it all started going downhill in the 25th minute when Welsh was red carded, meaning Harestanes had to play out the rest of the game with 10 men.

Fitzsimmons had a good opportunity from a lay-in from Mackie, but he shot over rather than slip into a corner.

Cambusnethan took the lead through a lucky break. A high ball was pumped into the box, the keeper advanced, slipped, Hamilton went down, their player nipped in and the ball ended in the back of the net.

Harestanes equalised when Mackie curled the ball high over the keeper from almost at the corner flag but went behind again when a Cambusnethan were awarded a second goal despite vehement Harstanes appeals for offside.